Cultures Collide

As a whole, humans are very arrogant creatures.  We believe that our way is always the best way.  However, when we view life this way, it causes conflicts among those around us.  As read in "The Challenge of Cultural Relativism," different cultures have different morals, so no one has the right to judge those people with a different culture.  The Eskimos, for example, marry, but the men marry more than one wife.  They also share their wives with guests, and the dominant males can have any other men's wife as he pleases.  The women can leave their husband for a new partner, as well.  In the United States' culture, this is viewed as crazy.  We believe that you should marry one person at a time, and sharing is considered cheating.  Eskimos also believe that killing infants is okay too.  One woman gave birth to twenty children but killed ten at birth.  This is viewed as absurd in our culture as well, especially since we have so many couples struggling just to have one child.  However, it is not our place to tell the Eskimos that they are wrong because their culture is different from ours.  If we did try to tell them that they are wrong and then try to change them, there would probably be some conflicts between us and the Eskimos too.  That is why we should respect differences among each other.  Cultural differences is also shown in Things Fall Apart.  When the missionaries come to Okonkwo's village, they work at changing the ways of the African people.  They build a school, push Christianity on the people, and start "righting" some of the African people's ways.  For example, Okonkwo's people believed that having twins was bad, so they would leave then babies out in the forest to die.  The missionaries disagreed with this and started saving the babies and brought in the mothers if they wanted to join them too.  This was considered evil to Okonkwo's village.  As time went on, the missionaries pushed their ways onto the people more and more making many of them angry.  Because the missionaries were pushing the "right" ways, conflict arose.  However, if the missionaries had just shared their faith with the people of the village instead of pushing their culture onto them, they may have brought more people to Christ and gotten along better with the Africans.  So as it is seen, if people would have respect for the different cultures around them instead of forcing cultures onto others, we would have more peace... and we would probably make some new friends in the process. :)

The Truth of Man

In today's society, men are expected to act macho and unbreakable.  They should never cry, and they should never express too much emotion.  If they do, they are considered womanly or gay.  This is shown in Things Fall Apart as well.  Okonkwo thinks men should be war-like, hard-working, and controlling.  When the missionaries start to settle in and he returns to his people letting the missionaries do what they please, he declares the men have become cowardly and more like women.  After the missionaries and their followers have abused six of the village's men, he realizes that his village is not going to step up like men and fight, so he hangs himself (which I believe to be just as cowardly).  Okonkwo is so ashamed of how his village is acting that he resorts to killing himself.  I believe that our society today is somewhat similar.  Guys are ashamed if they cry because they have been taught that men don't cry, only women cry.  So when they do, they hide it from others.  If others hear about it or see it, the guys tease him and the girls think it is weird.  I do not think this is how it should be.  People have different fears, and we all need to express it.  Okonkwo was wrong in judging his village for how they acted.  They were scared.  And as a society, we are wrong when we judge guys for crying or showing emotion.  I have a friend who has recently been struggling with all the things that are taking place in his life.  Whether it is the change in his friends or what may happen in the future, he is struggling with how to handle it.  Sometimes he just cries, and he feels ashamed to tell me or anyone about it because men are not supposed to do that [cry].  My friend told me that he has been girly lately because he has been crying, and he is happy one moment and then mad or sad the next.  Guys should not feel that way, but our society is doing that to them.  It is just adding to everything else they have to worry about.  That is not fair to them.  Therefore, I believe we should take a stand against our society's views of how a man should act.  Okonkwo took a stand, probably the wrong stand though.  I believe we should take the right stand and be there for the men our lives to show that we support them and are always there for them, even when they just need to cry.  The truth is men are people just like women are, and as people, we all have emotions.  We should not have to hide that.

Honor and Truth

Oedipus, a man with a complicated life, did not back down from the truth.  When he heard that the plague was caused by the dead king's murderer still being alive, Oedipus said that he would find this man and rid the land of him to save his people.  He asked everyone that may have had a piece about what led to the king's murder to lead him to the killer.  When the killer turned out to be him, he did not believe it at first and wanted further proof.  The proof proved that Oedipus killed the king, who also happened to be his father.  As a result of the truth, Oedipus followed through with what he promised to do by ridding the land of the killer.  Oedipus exiled himself, after gouging out his own eyes.  Today, it is very common for someone to back down from the truth and then make a misguided decision instead of doing what they know is right.  Whether it is a world leader realizing that the truth of the matter is his troops are abusing prisoners in jails and not punishing them accordingly or a thief knowing that stealing is wrong yet not admitting to it even when asked, people all over the world struggle with it.  One specific example is that one of my friends is dating a guy who does not trust her and accuses her of being a slut even through she has always been faithful to him in the three years that they have been dating.  They have been fighting a lot lately, and the truth that she has realized is that he is going to make her miserable if he keeps accusing her of things and not trusting her.  She keeps saying that she is just going to break up with him because she knows things will be better that way even if it is hard to do.  However, it has been a month since she has declared to do this and keeps pushing it off in the hopes that things between them will improve.  I realize this is not like Oedipus' situation, but I believe that it is very common for people to back down from the truth and what they should do about the truth.  Oedipus honored his word about what he would do once the truth was realized, and I find that admirable.  Despite following through probably being hard, he did it because that is what he said he would do.  He did not back down from the truth.  I believe that too many people these days back down though, and it shows how weak we have become.  I want to be a woman who faces the truth, and whether it is difficult or not, I want to be a woman that keeps my word after realizing the truth.  I want to be a woman of honor and truth.

For the Love of Marriage

Girls and women all over dream of finding Prince Charming and living happily ever after.  We dream of the big, white weddings and all the focus on how beautiful we look on that day.  We look at it as our day.  Television shows, movies, and books always have to throw at least one "romantic" moment in there, if it isn't focused on love completely.  This just enforces our desires to have a man in our life to always love us and make us happy, but some girls become too focused on this one desire.  They plan their wedding in advance with no man.  They imagine themselves ten years down the road with kids playing in the backyard with their husband, but they yet to have even a fiance.  How is this healthy?  Especially when it leads to the woman becoming desperate once she hits the mid-twenties and there is no man in her life, so she takes the first man that shows the slightest bit of interest even if he is a jerk and does not deserve someone as wonderful and beautiful as the woman who just wants to find happiness with a man.  The woman settles.  Then instead of living happily ever after, it becomes living miserably ever after because she feels that there is no man who will love her.  As women, we feel the need to be loved, and we want a man to love us and dote on us.  However, the fact of the matter is that some of us are meant for celibacy while others find the love of their lives at 62 years old while others meet that special someone in middle school.  We do not know what God has planned for us, but I can tell you that because of the emphasis our culture puts on relationships, women and men settle for just anyone and do not think through the decisions they are making.  For example, my mother has a friend who was just married last April.  She is in her late thirties and felt her biological clock ticking.  She met a man who had already been married twice and divorced for different reasons, but she still gave him a chance.  It was soon realized that he was mean and cruel to my mom's friend emotionally.  Yet the woman would not end things because she believed no other men would come around to love her.  My mom's friend was scared of being alone for the rest of her life.  She wanted to grow old with someone, which is completely understandable, so she settled.  But sometimes it pays to be patient instead of rushing into a bad marriage like so many women do these days.  So when Wilde mocked marriage in The Importance of being Earnest, I really enjoyed it.  Yes, he was writing for a different time period where marriage was based on financial gain and social status, but the people of today need to step back and look at how much importance we have put on marriage.  I believe marrige is important, but it is not important enough for someone to give up their own happiness and dreams.  The people of that time were not marrying for love, and the people of today, in some cases, are just marrying to be married.  It should not be like that.  In the play, the characters were more focused on marrying someone based on their name and not about what kind of person their "love" interest was on the inside.  Today, people jump into relationships because of how someone appears, whether it is physically or socially, instead of whether he or she is caring, kind, trustworthy, and respectful.  And these relationships can occasionally turn into a quick proposal and marriage before the two people really get to know each other.  In this way, The Importance of Being Earnest can relate to our culture today.

Christianity in The Power Of One

In The Power of One, Christianity was a big aspect, and it was shown as a negative thing.  Peekay's mom had become a devout Christian while he was off at school.  When he came home, she was portrayed as an arrogant, controlling, and judgemental woman because of her faith.  She was constantly trying to convert Peekay and his grandfather to Christianity.  Every time they did something that she disapproved of, she would say that if they just gave their life to their Lord, they would be forgiven and could go to Heaven with her one day.  But some of those things that she disapproved of were boxing and going out with Doc, and those are not necessarily bad things in God's eyes.  So she was an extreme that made Christianity look distasteful, and this offended me.  However, I do understand that people have different views of different religions.  I also understand that some Christians do come off as holier-than-thou and judgemental of everyone who does not share their views.  Plus, the extremes are meant to make a point, occasionally offend, and get a reaction.  If it had been something like Courtenay making football or playing an instrument look like an awful idea, I could understand others in our class being offended at that as well.  So I can see Courtnay's reasoning for making Peekay's mother an extreme.  There was a comment that a student made in my class that I disagree with though.  The student said that following a religion is okay as long as it doesn't overtake your life, but the point of being a Christian is giving your whole life over to God.  In Matthew 13, there is a parable about a trader who was looking for fine pearls.  One day, he found the most valuable of all pearls.  He went out and sold everything that he had just so he could have this one pearl.  That is supposed to show that when we have this beautiful treasure of our Lord saving us, we should be doing all we can for Him even if it means giving up everything else.  So if someone really claims to be a Christian, their life should reflect that in giving their all for God.  And can't school work be that something that overtakes your life and therefore, in this students view, be a bad thing?  If you let your life revolve around getting the absolute best grades in class and spending all your time doing school work, you are going to miss out on friendships and relationships and all the other beautiful and wonderful things God created us for.  Plus, once someone does actually beat you with a grade in class or being number one over you in class ranking, what do you have then?  Whereas God is always there, and you don't have to compete with anyone to have one because He loves us all.  In my life, I would say that this comment by the student really affected me.  It made me sad to think that this student has a view of Christianity that shouldn't be that way.  Christians are supposed to be loving, caring, and encouraging.  We were created to glorify Him by loving those around us, and it makes me sad that this student has obviously not experienced someone who has let God "overtake" their life.  I want to be that person.  I want to show him that letting God consume you is admirable, beautiful, and worth it.  That there is a joy in your life even when things around you seem awful, and you feel like your drowning.  That joy is there because you always have your Father with you, and I want to show him that joy even on my worst days.